Five Orioles stats that stand out — the Manny Machado edition

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Machado is right on pace with last year’s 17.6 home run/fly ball rate at 17.7 percent this season, but in this vein, what stands out is just how little his batted ball profile has changed in the name of these career-high home run paces. Machado has managed to keep his line drive rate relatively flat — no higher than 20.6, no lower than 17.3 — while cutting down sharply on his ground balls. In 2014, he had a career-high 48.6 percent ground ball rate. This year, it’s 37.3 percent, with the entire difference represented in fly balls. His average hasn’t suffered for it much, either. Machado isn’t exactly the well-hit ground ball type, and this year isn’t really a threat to beat many out for hits, so this new batted ball profile fits as well as any for the blossoming slugger. [Source: FanGraphs]

Machado is right on pace with last year’s 17.6 home run/fly ball rate at 17.7 percent this season, but in this vein, what stands out is just how little his batted ball profile has changed in the name of these career-high home run paces. Machado has managed to keep his line drive rate relatively flat — no higher than 20.6, no lower than 17.3 — while cutting down sharply on his ground balls. In 2014, he had a career-high 48.6 percent ground ball rate. This year, it’s 37.3 percent, with the entire difference represented in fly balls. His average hasn’t suffered for it much, either. Machado isn’t exactly the well-hit ground ball type, and this year isn’t really a threat to beat many out for hits, so this new batted ball profile fits as well as any for the blossoming slugger. [Source: FanGraphs]

Machado has hit any kind of pitching thrown his way this year, specifically breaking balls, but is among the league’s best at hitting fastballs. He’s batting .345 on fastballs this season, which ranks highest among Orioles with at least 200 such at-bats, and ninth overall in the majors. There’s really only one way for someone like Machado to achieve something like that, and that’s to both be terribly selective at the plate and not miss fastballs when you get them. On the former, Machado has been chasing some this year but also hitting breaking balls at such a clip that it hasn’t hurt him. And by evidence of the 23 home runs he’s hit on fastballs this year, he’s not missing many of those either. [Source: baseballsavant.com]

Machado has hit any kind of pitching thrown his way this year, specifically breaking balls, but is among the league’s best at hitting fastballs. He’s batting .345 on fastballs this season, which ranks highest among Orioles with at least 200 such at-bats, and ninth overall in the majors. There’s really only one way for someone like Machado to achieve something like that, and that’s to both be terribly selective at the plate and not miss fastballs when you get them. On the former, Machado has been chasing some this year but also hitting breaking balls at such a clip that it hasn’t hurt him. And by evidence of the 23 home runs he’s hit on fastballs this year, he’s not missing many of those either. [Source: baseballsavant.com]

When considering the career trajectory of Orioles third baseman Manny Machado, so much credence is given to the idea that he’s still in his age-23 season, and if he’s this good now, imagine what he could become.

Somehow, that doesn’t do justice to what he is now — a legitimate MVP candidate who is already at the second stage of such a career: Teams know about him and treat him like one of the league’s best players, and yet he still produces.

It will ultimately take the Orioles winning their division for Machado to be as strong of a candidate for MVP as he should be, but that shouldn’t detract from what he’s accomplishing, and the circumstances that impact that.

This week’s five stats that stand out focus on what has made Machado’s 2016 so special as the Orioles enter the stretch run.